In normal years, this would be the official kickoff to the political Silly Season. This year, however, is not normal, as instead we're right at the kickoff of Presidential Debate Season, and the votes are already in -- the silly subject we're all going to obsess over this year is named Donald Trump.

Marc Morial recites the industry's talking points in praising the ISPs for their broadband deployment, while denouncing common carrier rules as heavy handed "utility-style regulations" that would deter investment and widen the digital divide.

Small and minority-owned businesses in America can't afford to sit on the sidelines and be silent onlookers while wealthy Chinese companies invest in energy and natural resources in developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the globe. If small and minority-owned firms want to stay viable in an increasingly connected global economy, they must fight for a seat at the foreign investment table and look to China and other countries as potential sources for funding and financing.

While this legislation is hardly a final answer, it is at least a first step and would demonstrate that our leaders have the backbone to stand up for the American people in the face of opposition and threats from a well-funded and obstinate gun lobby.

Right now many states are attempting to put new voting restrictions in place that parallel all the old tricks and turn back the clock on civil rights to the days when voting was used as a tool for political control and exclusion.